Automatic water-elevating apparatus



April 8 1924A.` 1,489,635

J. D. FOSTER AUTOMATIC WATER ELEVATING APPARATUS 'Filed' March 2,. 19212 sheets-sheet 1 gmc/who@ ,I r 3% GMM/nu,

April 8 1924.`

J. D. FOSTER AUTOMATIC WATER ELEVATING APPARATUS Filed uarc'h z, 1921Patented Apr. 8, 1924.

UNITED STATES" PATENTY-OFFICE.

JAMES n. FOSTER, or 'iUscALoosA, ALABAiirA.` y

AUTOMATIC WATER-ELEVATING APrARA'rUs.

Application mea Marche, 1321. sena; 119.449,11?,

To all whomrz't may-concern:

Be it knownthat-ll, JAMES D. Fos'rER; a citizen of theUnitedStates,residingfat4 Tuscaloosa, inthe county of Tuscaloosa and 5State of Alabama, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inAutomatic lVater-Elevating Apparatus, vof 'vvhiclifV following is aspecification, reference'beingx had to the accompanying drawings.v

to provide an apparatus ofVv this character,

for automatically elevating water 'or other vliquid from wells, sumps,'lakesfspringgv streams or any other place, fromiwhereiit is desiredthatthe water be elevatedfto ,a higher level, for 'consumption purposes.V

Another purpose consists lin the provision lof an apparatus' of thiscliaracter,"wherein `meansis afforded, whereby as long 4as the`stopjeock or faucet on the mainline is open, the liquid may continuouslyflow, as it is the aim that the air pressure,'shallat` lall times beapplied, thereby 'malningfity govern the volume Yofjwater to4be1hfandled,i

therefore it is the aim to utilize any diameter of pipes; 'p f 4.0ing'air under pressure. In this connection asuitable 'equalizing valveis designed fori placement between such tank or tanks .andY

the lapparatus, so that aA uniform vpressure maybe maintained.

is employed, in order to prevent friction, the-air under pressure beingallowed to enter each end of the piston .inilve'casing impartingrreciprocating motions to -the piston valve, thereby causing the-intakeand the exhaust of the, air under pressure.

It is an object 4of the present.invention4 The present apparatusmayals-Oibe lakes and the likev for irrigationpurposes/ In connection withthe present apparatusif compressed air as a Amotive power'is tobe used,such air to be supplied'by any suit-y.A able or convenient meansormethod, pref.l erably by means of storage tanks, contain# 'In orderthat the equalizing. valve may maintain a. uniform pressure, a pistonvalve.

on the intake of the air into the opened port itA is the design to'impart downward travel to floats in water chambers alternately, therebyexpelling or forcing the water from the chambers into the main serviceline,` whereas the exhaust of the utilized Iair permits the cylinders orcham-cy bers tof` v'automatically refill alternately.

A lstill further purpose involves the provision of means'operativelyconnecting between thefloats of said chambers and" the reciprocatingpiston valve, sc as to reciprocate the valve, forvexhaustin'g the air,and permitting the intake of air under pressure,

it being obvious thatltheintake of air. also assists in -moving thevalve f The invention still further embodies the v provision ofmeans'to' avoid excessive leak# age at the :pointwhere the piston valveoperates through the'piston'44 valve casing, in

order'fto cooperate. with the walking beam,

whichshifts the valveback and forth.

Thepresent disclosure in the accompany* ing drawings is merelyillustrative of the general construction and mode of loperation of theimproved. automatic water elevating apparatus, therefore it is-obvious'when re ducing@thefapp'aratus to amore practical form forcommercialpurposes,the invention may besusc'eptible to changescomprehended within the scope ofwha-t yis claimed'.- .1.

The inventio'rij'comprises further features v and combination;v ofparts, as will' be hereinafter vset forth, `-shown inthe-drawings andclaimed."

d'In' the irawingsE-fA -1' Figure 1` is* a Yverticalsectional viewthrough a well, showing the improved aplparatusl for automaticallyelevating Athe water therefrom, as] Ymounted therein, and'constructedlln accordance -with the invention? Figure 21.1s )a verticalsectional view Y throi'ight theY water elevating apparatus.. IFigureBis/a plan view Aof the same. I

Figure l is a vertical'sectional view at f rightang'les to and on line4-'4 of'Figure 2.

Referringfto the drawings, l designates a vvellgfrom whichin the presentinstance water isfde'signed Ato bel elevated by means of' the apparatus*herein shown and deico scribed. The water elevating V"a-r p'aratuscomprises'fcylinders'2-- and 3, which. are

threaded or otherwise connected to the upper and lower head flanges 4and 5. Opposing the head lianges 4 and 5 are, head plates 6 and 7, whichbridge from one .cylinder to the other.

Connected to the lower head plate 7 are the water intake pipes 8,which-extend down-V wardly and upwardly to points level with the upperhead plate, and terminate in return bends 9. The terminals of..thetreturn. bends 9 are provided with rcone screens 10. It is thepurpose to' place the device on the.. bottoms of wells, or onthefbottoms offother bodies of water, vand as there is sand-pand. otherundesirable vforeign matter at the bottom off' the water,.the conescreens act t0 prevent the intake lot' .sandl andl foreignmatter. It isAobviousthat this 7 apparatus may be constructed, in order. to'be usedwells or other places, and suitable to accommodate any level' ofwater. u

Also connected to. the lower head plates- 7 and communicating with thechambersor the cylinders 2 Vand 3 are outlet pipes 1v1` rheseoutletpipes connect` to a /T-union. 12,.

from which a mainy line 13 extends. This line may eXtendfto anysuitablelocation and may unite with a plurality of. branches, it being obviousthatv each branchA (not shown) may Vinclude valves,V (not shown) for thepurpose-ofy controllingthe-low cf the water, while the lmaingpipe,13'may haveA a controlling valvey 14,- so. that.v the supply, o'lvwater'to'all thebranchesfmay becuto or turned on. of the valves ofthebranches is open, lorthe valve 14 ofthe main v branch is open, the

water is allowed to `flow, sincethe apparatusv is automatic throughoutits operation.

The intake pipes 8 immediately adjacentv to thelowerheadplate 7, thoughthey may Y be otherwise located, are provided with check valves 175,which operate automaticallyto permitthe intake ofiwater into.,l the.chambers of the cylinders.:2 and 3 on.theA

upward stroke of the iioats,'andgto clcsecn..A the downwardmovementsofftheefloats, andl whenY pressure. ente-rsfthe chambers of.kthe cylinders.`

The outlet pipes vv11ihave:checkevalves 16,j

which automatically open onvr the: down stroke of 'the Heats andi theintake ,of air, pressure inthe upper partof the chambers of thecylinders, topermit the` discharge of the water, and close ontheupwardmovementsolc the floats.

The head plates 6 and 7 are boltedtofthe. head langes4 and 5 by meansofthe bolts 17, and bolted upon thezupper head plate 6 by means of thebolts 18` is a plate '19, .which l, constitutes a base for thestandar-d20 ofthe piston valve case 21.'

The piston valve casing'21-' hast-a valve chamber 22, in which a pistonvalve 23 is Vmounted for reciprocating movement. This pressurev isobtainable.,

It is'x obviousfthat if'ranygj one` piston valve is constructedpreferably as shown, though it is obvious that it may be otherwise yformed.

The-,valve casing 21 is cylindrical in form and open ended, and receivesa perfectly cylindrical piston valve. This valve is groundA into.aperfect' seat in the chamber 22 of thecasing 21, and upon thisconstruction depends the success and proper operation vof the apparatus.The open ends of the valve casing 21 are closed by the plates 24, whichare fastened to the margin of the ends of the'valve casingby means of asuitable number of cap screws or studs 25. Withthisparticularconstruction, it is the aim. to provide anapparatusof thiskind tov withstandV a-reasonable amount of air pressure, it being the.purpose to use the apparatusvfor heavy work, where two hundred to overnvfourthundredk pounds of air Air. intake pipes 26 are connected to theopposite endplates 24 of the piston lvalve casing, 21, and aredesignedto be supplied with air under pressure from any suitable source, e (notshown), preferably tanks. This supply of air` is l.automatic andconstatut,` so, as to, enter thev chamber 22, and thencefthechambers 27and 28 of the cylinders 2 and 3. The piston valve 23 isprov.ided .withexhaust p0rts29, which are designedfto register.' alternately with theports Y TheA lo yer partoflthevalve casing 21 has a slotl or opening 36,through which the female member, 37 oitheuniversalor ball, and-socket'jointpasses;` O. This female memberorvleg. 37Y isgconstructed separatefromY the valve 23, and is attached thereto` by 'a thi-teadfedextension372. Inother words thisY female member or vleg, 37 is screwed intothe valve 23Ymakinggthe Vsame adjustable after the valve `has beenvvground to. its seati Furthermorel the valve "23 is constructed, wherebyit may slide upon or engage the entire circumferencerof lthe, seat orchamber 22.- The leg 37 Ais coupled `or connected to thearm42o thewalking beam 43f'byY means of a universal or.` ball and socket joint,which vcomprises a cavity 40 formed in. the female member ork leg 37,and theV short valve, in order to prevent friction' as much as possible,as the air pressure acts on Y theends of the valve 1, otherwise thevalve could not act as a piston valve. When the iston valve is in ,thenposition shown in igure 2, one of the ports v29 registers with the port30 and one end of the slot 36, allowing the utilized air to exhaust.When the piston valve assumes a position so that the port 30communicates with the pipe 26 on the right hand side, the other exhaustport 29 communicates with the port 31 and the other end of the slot 36,allowing the exhaust of utilized air from the chamber 28. The exhaust ofutilized air from the chambers 27 and 28 alternately occurs, as thepiston valve shifts. A. walking beamV 43 is pivoted at 44 on one face ofthe standard 20. It is obvious that when the walking beam is oscillated,the arm 42 tilts, which in turn imparts a reciprocating movement to thepiston valve.

Mounted in guides 45 of the plate19 and passing through the packingglands 46 are rods 27 and 28, the upper ends of which are connected at49 to the opposite ends of the walking beam 43. Suitable floats 50 aremounted for vertical reciprocating movement in the chambers 27 and 28 ofthe cylinders 2 and 3, and are guided upon the rods 47 and 48, therebeing openings 51, through which the rods pass. The upper parts of the'rods 47 and 48 havev abutment plates 52 and 53, while the lower ends ofthe rods have abutment plates 54 and 55.

Thus it will be noted that when any one of the faucets of the branchpipes` (not shown), are turned on, or when the faucet or valve of themain pipe 13 is turned on,

provided the branch pipes are not used,Y

water enters one or the other of the cylinders 2 and 3, it depending onthe posi` 55, the rod 48 is moved downwardly, which` will impart anoscillatory movement to the walking beam 43, and through its operativearm connection 42 with the piston valve, the piston valve may be'shiftedto a position, to'permit air under pressure to pass through the otherpassage 34, at the same time putting the iirst passage 35 inconimunication with the exhaust pipe 29. Air

will then enter the passage 34 on the right,Y

27having been raised, the air would impart a downward movementthereon,and cause the expulsion of the water. When the float 50 in the chamber27 reaches its lowered position, 'it will contact with the'abutmentplate 54, and impart a. Ydownward movement on the rod 48, which willoscillate the walking beam 43 in the other direction, to assume aposition as in Figure 2, allowing the air under pressure to againope-rate in the chamber 28.

It is obvious that when the floats 50 alternately raise, they willcontact with the other respective abutment plates, and thereby shift oroscillate the walking beam so as to close off the exhaust of theutilized compressed air, and shift the piston valve, so as to permit theintake of compressed air on its other end, and vice versa.

lt is obvious that the standard 20 may be any suitable height upwardlyfrom the base plate 19, so that the piston valve casing 21 may be eitherlocated down in the shaft of the well, o-r any other place, at a point alittle above the level of the water, or it may be located at a. pointabove the surface of the shaft of the well, or otherwise disposed withrelation to the cylinders. f

Furthermore the cylinders may or may not rest upon thebottom of thewell, but in all instances the level of the water is ydesigned to be ata relatively substantial distance above the upper portions of thecylinders, as disclosed in the drawings.

The invention having been set forth, what is claimed as being useful is:

In an apparatus for the purpose indicated, a pair of upright cylindersto be submerged into a body of water, a head plate connecting andclosing the upper ends of both cylinders, a standardrising from the headplate and terminating at its upper end in a valve casing disposedhorizontally in a direction above the center of the head plate, Vsaidstandard having passages communicating with the cylinders ,and havingports communicating with the valve cas ing, a walking beam operativelyfulcrumed upon the standard directly below the center of the valvecasing, t-he lower portion of the Vvalve casing having a slot, a pistonslide valve in the valve casing and provided with passages tooperatively and alternately connect first one and then the other of saidports with the slot, said slide valve having means engaging through theslot and operatively connecting with the central portion of the walkingbeam, means for permitting air under pressure to enter the op-positeends of the valve casing, to-be controlled by the valve whereby it mayenter first one and then the other of the passages through the '4' mme#ing beam and passing lcentrally through the the cylinders on the11p-Ward strokes of the cylinders and provided With'uppeiand lowerfloats,"'adi means ffii permitting-'of 'the dsl abutments, lilo-ats uponsaid guide 'ro-dsito' charge "i'l Waeo'n 'the-downward strokes 10 ascendand descend alternately and coo'perof tlefflats'. if ating with saidabutments for tilting the test'm'ny whereof I hereunto aix my Walkingbeam for shifting the pstoln slide' signauiel" l *i valve7 means forpermitting Water' t0 enten D. i

